Crosshair VII Hero WiFi totally unstable

[Flexerl]

Hello Forum,

I just built a brandnew rig:
ASUS Crosshair VII Hero Wifi
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
G.Skill 32 GB Quad DIMM Kit (F4-3466C16Q-32GTZR)
ASUS Strix Vega 64, mounted vertically via riser cable
Samsung 960 Pro M.2 NVME
Seasonic 650W Titanium Power Supply

All this is placed in a Lian Li PC-O11 WGX, cooled by 6 Enermax T.B. RGB Fans

I'm really frustrated right now and on the verge of sending everything back. No matter what I do, I just can't get it stable. For the record: Everything is @ stock, settings on AUTO unless otherwise stated. Temps have never been a problem, the CPU gets to 80° at max (CPU Fan @ 3000 rpm).

What I tried initially:
- The CH VII won't boot if i select the XMP setting in the BIOS, so booting with 4 DIMMS @3466 is impossible (gives me 3 beeps on boot, even with 1.4V), maximum it will boot: 3200 MHz
- So I went with 3200 MHZ and loose Timings (16-18-18-38, as deemed stable for 3466)

Where I am now, after several crashes:
- I gradually reduced RAM Speed from 3200 down to 2933 MHz and even looser Timings with 16-21-21-49 due to crashes without getting to the root cause (but I was guessing it's a RAM issue)
- I uninstalled all the ASUS Software like AISuite 3 and the like which is supposed to be responsible for sudden shutdowns as stated in other threads (even though I never had/ran Corsair Link or NZXT stuff)
- The only Software remaining is ASUS Grid, GPU Tweak II, Aura Sync, Sonic Studio 3, HWInfo64, Ryzen Master, CPUID
- it will still just turn itself off while Prime95 is running, or while gaming.. I still want to check if it happens when I let it sit idling for some time

What I checked:
- Temps: OK. No overheating issues, no throttling, neither CPU nor GPU. M.2 SSD is fine as well, MB too
- Cables: Everything plugged in nice and tight
- Software: Uninstalled most of the bundled stuff, see above.
- Drivers: Installed the latest available from AMD and others
- RAM: Reseated the 4 DIMMs, didn't make any difference
- Voltage: Everything stock, see above. Tried bumping up RAM to 1.4, no difference
- Power Supply: I figured 650 W could be a little tight, but under full load (CPU: Prime95, GPU: FurMark), it pulls 450 - 500 W @wall, so that should do...

My guesses (into the dark): Some board component is getting too hot. Faulty Board. Faulty RAM. Faulty CPU.
Any suggestions?

[brkkab123]

Your ram isn't on the Crosshair VII Hero or Hero Wi-fi's QVL list.
Short answer get ram that is.

[brkkab123]

For G-Skill stick with either the FlareX or SniperX lines of ram. They're specifically for AM4 systems.

[gupsterg]

Your ram isn't on the Crosshair VII Hero or Hero Wi-fi's QVL list.
Short answer get ram that is.

Don't talk nonsense. The kit OP is using is Samsung B die, single rank/sided, what Ryzen favours.

As The Stilt says you should wipe your ass with the QVL, link. I have used non QVL listed RAM on C6H, ZE with TR and plan to use some with C7H.

My guesses (into the dark): Some board component is getting too hot. Faulty Board. Faulty RAM. Faulty CPU.
Any suggestions?

I reckon currently the C7H is just in early development states of UEFI. Hold fire OP things will get better IMO. I owned C6H from launch, I had various issues over time these have been resolved.

What UEFI version are you on? go to tool page, ASUS User Profile, Load/Save to USB, then CTRL+F2 will dump settings as txt, mind sharing that?

If you have a spare drive I'd use that for diags/testing. For example just have bare min, ie OS, AMD Chipset driver, AMD Video Driver, etc, then say HWINFO for monitoring and some apps to load up rig (Realbench, Y-Cruncher, P95, 3DMark).

Mind sharing a HWINFO screenshot of monitoring? increase polling rate from default 2000ms to 750ms. Do other stability tests like RealBench, Y-Cruncher, etc work without shutdown?

[neikosr0x]

Don't talk nonsense. The kit OP is using is Samsung B die, single rank/sided, what Ryzen favours.

As The Stilt says you should wipe your ass with the QVL, link. I have used non QVL listed RAM on C6H, ZE with TR and plan to use some with C7H.



I reckon currently the C7H is just in early development states of UEFI. Hold fire OP things will get better IMO. I owned C6H from launch, I had various issues over time these have been resolved.

What UEFI version are you on? go to tool page, ASUS User Profile, Load/Save to USB, then CTRL+F2 will dump settings as txt, mind sharing that?

If you have a spare drive I'd use that for diags/testing. For example just have bare min, ie OS, AMD Chipset driver, AMD Video Driver, etc, then say HWINFO for monitoring and some apps to load up rig (Realbench, Y-Cruncher, P95, 3DMark).

Mind sharing a HWINFO screenshot of monitoring? increase polling rate from default 2000ms to 750ms. Do other stability tests like RealBench, Y-Cruncher, etc work without shutdown?

pretty much, i have a Samsung B-die gkills F4 3600 non QVL listed, and i managed to get them to work at rate speeds it takes some time to get the timing right but after that they eventually worked.

[Flexerl]

Thanks for your replies! Regarding the QVL: I take it with a grain of salt, this list can never ever be complete for each board and each type of RAM. Once I saw that an Octa DIMM Kit was listed, it lost a fair amount of compulsoryness for me

Yes, the G.Skill kit is indeed a Samsung B-Die single rank kit, and that's the reason I chose it. I left it idling over night to see if it also crashes, but it was running when I got up.

Other requested Infos coming up… BTW: BIOS is 0509, WiFi is disabled.

[Sigtran]

Try with just 2 DIMMs, i.e. 16GB, and see does it makes a difference regarding the stability. If it works, try the second DIMM pair, just to be sure that it's not the memory fault.

It still unstable, if you can, try with some other video card also...

[gupsterg]

BIOS is 0509, WiFi is disabled.

UEFI 0601 is most current release, I would try that, link.

I may have my C7H WiFi running in a day or so. Sometimes I find drivers from actual manufacturer of x are better, perhaps if Realtek do drivers for the WiFi module use those instead of ones from ASUS.

[Flexerl]

Here's what HWINFO has to say… more info to come

[Flexerl]

I'll check out the beta BIOS once I dump the UEFI data. Hesitated up to now since it's a beta version, but I'll give it a shot anyway. Given the BIOS updater won't b*tch around like last time, telling me that the file was invalid.